Overview

The Chicago Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc. (ChicagoMSDC) is a premier organization for increasing business opportunities between major buying organizations and minority-owned businesses.

History

In 1968, a chain of events erupted into civil and economic mayhem that shook Chicago at its very core.
Rising above the turmoil, a group of corporate and community leaders were determined to cast a spotlight of hope on seemingly hopeless situations and created The Chicago Business Opportunity Day.

The following year in 1969, the event was officially re-named CBOF, Chicago Business Opportunity Fair.

Chicago Business Opportunity Fair was a game-changer then and is still a game-changer in the new Millennium. It remains as the signature event of ChicagoMSDC, a thought leader in minority business since 1968.

Philosophy

ChicagoMSDC was founded on two fundamental principles: there had to be a partnership between minority business, corporate America and government, and there had to be basic fairness in the marketplace for all.

For more than two decades, ChicagoMSDC has operated on the premise that all those who have an idea to sell and a dream to fulfill and are willing to sacrifice and take risks can get the opportunity to do so anywhere in the country. Along the way, minority businesses have created jobs for American workers, increased the tax base and contributed to the gross national product. ChicagoMSDC supports the premise that the overriding reason for business development is job creation. The effective creation of above-the-poverty-level jobs benefit not only the minority economy but the national economy as well.

Accomplishments

ChicagoMSDC is one of 24 affiliates of the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), a nonprofit corporate membership organization that advances business opportunities for its certified Asian, Black, Hispanic and Native American business enterprises and connects them to its corporate members. One of the country’s leading corporate membership organizations, NMSDC was chartered in 1972 to provide increased procurement and business opportunities for minority businesses of all sizes.

For the minority entrepreneur, ChicagoMSDC's programs and resources are avenues for increasing sales to private- and public-sector buying organizations. For the buyer, ChicagoMSDC serves as a credible resource for locating qualified minority suppliers. To both the entrepreneur and the buyer, ChicagoMSDC is the central network where trading partners meet and business alliances flourish.

The ChicagoMSDC partnership includes over 250 private-and public-sector buying organizations and more than 1,100 minority businesses. Buying members report over $3 billion in annual purchases from minority firms. Minority enterprise members report the employment of more than 20,000 workers annually.